Every Inch (the hero)
by Tsume Yuki
Summary: In one world, All for One finds Shimura Tenko at his most vulnerable. In another, somebody else gets there first. (female Naruto) DISCONTINUED
1. Chapter 1

"Naruto!" The door slams against the wall with enough force to bounce right off it, sending it careering back towards its frame.

Shimura Tenko steps to a side as the threshold swings shut, raking one hand through the shaggy hair atop his head as blood red eyes scan the room. The woman that's slouched across the sofa groans, pulling the blanket up and over her head. Undoubtedly in the vain hope she'll be left alone. It's soon ripped away from her form, held hostage in a three finger and thumb grip as Tenko stares her down.

"Ten, noooo."

"Ten, yes," the teen snaps, flicking the blanket away and folding his arms to stare judgementally down at the woman. Naruto stares right back, a pout to her lips, until it becomes clear Tenko has absolutely no intention of letting this slide.

"I hate getting stuffed into a dress. It's degrading and I can't walk in those heels. Sakura-chan always made it look so easy." As his mentor goes off mumbling to herself once again, Tenko scratches at his neck, lightly and subtly. Depressed with the circumstances or not, Naruto'll kick his ass if she notices. It took her ages to break him of the constant habit that came as a response for anything. Now, it's just a little nervous tick he can beat back. Normally. It pops in for special occasions. Like right now.

"Dabi's graduation ceremony is in an hour. An hour."

"I still don't see why I need a dress on. I rocked up to yours in sweatpants." Tenko's well aware. The photo from his ceremony resides upon the mantle; he's sporting crisp graduation robes, Dabi and Naruto look like they'd rolled out of bed and through a haystack to get there. No, they're going to have a prim, proper photo, even if it kills Tenko to get it. Truth be told, he gets a kick out of forcing Naruto into a formal outfit, given the amount of times she'd stuck her nose in on his own costume's design. The fabric's too loose there. There's not enough support here. There's nowhere to put your kunai (her face had been a picture when Tenko's informed her he didn't plan on carrying any). There's still a hint of defiance in Naruto's face however, so Tenko goes in for the kill.

"You know we'll be the only ones turning up for him, given the bastard's divorced whatever family he had before." He still remembers that night three and a half years ago, the day they'd first met. Naruto'd barged into the apartment, cradling an extra crispy teenager close to her chest with her ridiculous power flaring viciously vivid under a moonless night. She hadn't been able to heal him up perfectly and he'd only gone and made it weirder by getting all those piercings, but Dabi'd never really left after that day (if he'd wanted to was a different matter, Naruto was like a bloodhound when she got something into her head).

As such, the notion of family and togetherness closes like a steel trap over her head now; the redhead whines but submits according, rolling off of the sofa. It's hidden springs rejoice with a wheezing creek, cushions rising like the dawn of a new day. The look his dear mentor shoots it is one of utmost betrayal.

"We need some new furniture," she mutters, lips pursed and Tenko is once again reminded that, for all her worldly wisdom, Naruto is only ten years his senior, had only been seventeen herself when she'd scraped him out of that gutter, dragged him trembling and near hysterical into her arms with a stubborn 'you're safe now' on her lips. It's one of the clearest memories of his life. It'd been the turning point of his life. It'd been a damn miracle that the one person who found him was also the only one could heal the damage his quirk inflicted on her.

"Well, if someone applied for a hero license instead of playing vigilante, maybe you could actually make some more money than what your ramen making clone brings home everyday." Naruto huffs, pulling her ridiculously long red hair up into a single ponytail before taking the time to rub her chin up against her arm. Getting rid of the usual drool, no doubt.

"You know I can't do that, Ten." He's aware. It comes with the whole issue of 'I'm an illegal immigrant from another dimension who doesn't have a quirk but instead a well of energy and oh yeah I can train other people to use it too, please don't let the government make a lab experiment out of me'. No, they've been getting by on Naruto's merger wage (the clone's wage, even) and Tenko had deliberately ignored his elder sister/mother figure sneaking out at night to fight crime. It doesn't matter anymore either way; now that he's got a job, now that Dabi's finally graduating, they'll be able to actually contribute to the household income. Stubborn and childish she may be (and he can't claim to be much better, no matter how much Naruto tries knocking it out of him), this is the woman that's raised him. The woman who took the extra crispy breakdown that was Dabi and teased him out into being an actual human being again. There's little Tenko wouldn't do for her.

"Just get changed already. We're wasting time." A dainty hand slaps at his own and Tenko draws it back from his tender neck with a hiss, trying to ignore how the freshly scratched skin prickles. It's probably red by now; no doubt Naruto had sensed his irritation, a shark scenting blood.

"You know," Naruto grumbles as she stalks over to the bathroom, snatching up the dress he'd produced as she goes, "You used to be a real cute kid. What happened?"

"I had a bad influence." He'd had the best influence. Naruto knows it too; she smiles over her shoulder at him as she disappears.

.

Dabi's graduation falls on March 1st; the weather is mild, the sun cool as clouds lazily drift across the sky. Tenko has found himself a semi-formal suit, one that had been on sale, and. It didn't look too bad on him. As usual, Naruto turns more than a few heads, especially now that she's dressed up to the nines. Tenko makes sure to stick close to her, scowling hard as the eyes that follow her through the crowd. Not one of these bastards deserves to look at her like that, as if she's just there for them to stare at, as if that's all she's good for. Tenko meets the eye of one asshole in particular that's staring far too hard. He lets his last finger fall, holding the back of a chair (for support as the crowd is absolutely bustling) and the wood begins to instantly disintegrate. Fucker doesn't look their way again and Tenko grins, even as the motion pulls at his dried skin. That's another thing they need; moisturiser. More money to throw away. Now that metal-head is getting a job (he better be getting one, or Tenko will be having words) then maybe they'll finally be able to treat Naruto, instead of the other way around.

"Man, these things take ages," whines Naruto, slumping into her chair even as she kicks one leg up to cross over the other. Tenko wants to grunt in acknowledgement, but if he shows even the slightest hint of agreement, Naruto'll think she has an ally to her cause and spend the whole thing vividly describing how they could hurry the ceremony along. Or worse, actually go about speeding the proceedings up herself with the usual brand of mayhem. They cannot afford anyone, especially the great gathering of heroes here, paying them too much attention. If they look just a little too closely at Naruto's face, the might notice those thin whisker-like markings are startlingly similar to the thick lines the vigilante Maelstrom boasts. Then they'll be in deep shit; game over, blank black screen, no lives left. Tenko's in this for the long-haul, he wants to collect all the trophies, gather all the items and score all the points. He can't do that on the run. Because like hell would they manage to keep Naruto in jail.

"Be quiet, it's starting," Tenko hisses as Principal Nezu scurries out onto the stage. His rodent body is adorned with a simple black suit, a small red bowtie decorating his collar, cutting a sharp figure as he leaps atop the podium.

"Ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for gathering here to celebrate this momentous occasion…" As the rodent blathers on, Tenko drifts off slightly, keeping an ear out for key words as he flicks through the handout. His hands itch for something more interactive but he forcibly makes-do with the pamphlet. Within, the entirety of the graduates from class A and B of the Heroics Department are listed, a long reel of names descending not alphabetically, but based upon their placement in the final year sources. He almost loses his shit when he spots that lazy-ass' name at the top. 'Uzumaki Dabi' is listed as the top student, representative of the graduating classes. Tenko has been the representative of his own year, so it's not exactly as if he's laughing at Dabi because the ass has proven himself a total nerd. No, he's much more amused by the fact the idiot will have to write his own graduation speech to address the audience with.

As if in cue, Nezu taps a tiny paw against his chest and coughs lightly into the other. Tenko hastily elbows Naruto, forcibly snapping her attention away from the building's many occupants and directing it to the front. Just in time for Dabi to rock up to the podium, graduation robes thrown hazardously on and utterly failing to hide the loose fitting white tee-shirt beneath.

"That absolute slob," hisses Tenko. The idiot has rocked up in his usual getup, not even attempting to hide the casual clothes he's got on underneath. If anything, he's only drawing more attention to it all with his lacklustre slouch and bored face. The artificial lighting catches in Dabi's dyed hair, the black locks trapping the light and refusing to reflect any back out. Which is all well and good, given the shine the multitude of facial piercings give off. A quick pinch to the arm has Tenko swearing under his breath, swatting Naruto's hand away from his vulnerable forearm.

"Dabi didn't bother dressing up."

"I can see. I'll kick his ass later."

.

Later takes forever to arrive. Once Dabi's address is over (and it's not actually half bad, but both Tenko and Dabi have been exposed to enough of Naruto's motivational speeches to pass any kind of presentation assignment with flying colours), Nezu goes back to rambling on about the achievements of the graduates. The only one Tenko pays any attention to is their pierced idiot, even as Naruto oohs and aahs over each person. She may whine about begin forced to dress up but, at her heart, Naruto's a people person. More so than Tenko or Dabi are (though the former's not even a close call, Tenko's never been great with the whole 'be friendly' thing).

As the ceremony drags on, Tenko relaxes into his seat, eyes trailing across the line-up of heroes that have chosen to attend this shindig. There's Hawks, the asshole that's been racing up the popularity rankings this year despite not having attended U.A., Best Jeanist beside him. That's the guy that's offered Tenko a start by begin a sidekick in his firm, only… Tenko'd turned him down. Perhaps he'd been listening a little too much to Naruto's impassioned rants, but he's got a bit of a dream. He doesn't want to become the best hero. No, he wants to create a team of heroes, an alliance so well rounded and productive that they'll be able to tackle anything. He wants to create a team, to influence society to follow that ideology. He doesn't want to see any other child be in the same position as he once was, waiting desperately for a hero to show up. Tenko'd been lucky. He'd not gotten a hero; he'd gotten something even better. But Naruto wasn't going to live forever. So he needs to make sure her ideals live on instead. Which is why he'd been waiting for Dabi to hurry his ass up and graduate before they really kick off their schemes. Speaking of…

Tenko squints, following Dabi's infuriated stare and pinpointing the target of his fierce blue glare as… Endeavour? A quick check but, nope, that's exactly who Staple-head is glaring at. Well, they both have fire quirks, he reasons, dry lips pursing as he glances between the two. It's funny because there's almost something familiar in the shape of their jaws and the hard slant to their… identical blue eyes. Tenko can feel his jaw loosen, can feel the stupefied expression slipping onto his face no matter how hard he tries to reel it in but he just can't help it. Is, is Dabi related to Endeavour? No, that can't be right, can it? Why the fuck would Dabi have been in the state that Naruto found him in if that were the case? If Dabi were the son of the Number Two hero in Japan, then… Then why the fuck wasn't he off living the high life? Why was he slumming it with Naruto and him? If he's right (and Tenko gets the terrible feeling that he is), then he's missing something. Something obvious. Dabi's whole body is covered in burn scars and the bastard always locks up tighter than Sony's coding. Tenko's not been able to unlock that tragic backstory yet but… but he gets the feeling that Naruto probably has. Hell, she's ventured through the minefield that is his own history. She's probably at the right level to have accessed the cause of Dabi's current form. Whatever mental breakdown had led to that. Tenko doesn't know; he'd always assumed that Dabi's scares were from his own flames; the blue blaze that he'd always struggled to control until Naruto took him under her wing. Paw. Whatever.

"Now who's not paying attention." Hissing a quiet 'fuck' under his breath, Tenko forcibly shakes Naruto's heel from his own sneaker covered foot (hey, he's in a suit, he never proclaimed he'd be wearing the matching dress shoes) and climbs to his feet a few breaths after everybody else. He claps along politely, back cringing in pain and he subtly shifts in an attempt to stretch the muscles out. It could be worse, he supposes. U.A. could opt for a summer graduation when the temperatures are soaring. At least he's not melting into his seat. "Come on," Naruto chirps with far too much cheer, hand clamping down on his wrist, "let's go find him." Before he can get a word in edgeways, the redhead tows his off, bulldozing through the crowd at a rapid rate. Tenko doesn't even attempt to offer up apologies for her brash behaviour; he's already got one full-time job waiting for him, he's got no desire to give it up for another one.

"Naruto?"

"Dabi!" Naruto releases his hand in time to throw herself at Dabi, scooping the lanky teenager up into her arms and easily ignoring the fact he's more than half a foot taller than her. Staple-face hangs limply in her grasp, well aware that there's no point in attempting to escape. She'd just hunt him down anyway. Besides, Tenko's pretty sure the fucker loves her over-the-top affection; he's seen him blush enough times to back up that conclusion. "Top of the class! That's both of you, so that's a full house now!"

"Didn't you scrap through your own graduation by the skin of your teeth?"

"Eh?!" Naruto peels herself back and away from Dabi, holding him at an arm's length to inspect his smug face with a frown of her own. "No! You're not allowed to comment on that! Besides, I failed and got through on a technicality so it doesn't count," she mumbles the last bit to herself, scowling but never releasing Dabi from her arms. It's round about this time that Tenko decides it's time to make himself known, elbowing his way past his idiot of a mentor to flick the dark-haired idiot on the forehead. Not the jaw because chances are good he'd end up hitting some kind of metal and just do himself an injury.

"Congratulations, Staple-face. Top of the class. Are you ready to step out into the real world now?" Dabi huffs, raking own hand through his hair. It's irritating that Tenko can't figure out if that action was something Dabi picked up from him, or something he picked up from Dabi. It's a gesture they're both well practiced in, however; clear evidence of just how intertwined with one another they are now. His partner in crime, so to speak. Well, not crime, but revolution of the hero industry. Tenko is in this to make everything more efficient, to ensure there's always team of heroes ready to tackle everything, so that no one is ever left behind in this society. Dabi… as far as Tenko's aware, Dabi is in this to prove what it means to be a true hero. Not someone in it for the money, the popularity, the prestige. But someone who genuinely wants to help people, to save others. Nothing more, nothing less. Tenko has no idea of the technicalities, but Dabi as set as a rock with this mindset. And, well, it meshes well with Tenko's desires. Naruto… Naruto's so proud of them already that it makes his head spin. She'll be proud of them no matter what they achieve. Tenko's going to strive to be the best, to redefine heroism and its workings within civilisation anyway.

Azure eyes straying over to the Flame Hero once more, Dabi clenches his jaw and then meets Tenko's hard stare.

"Fuck yeah."

.

* * *

.

"Well, Uzumaki-san is certainly a character," Shota mutters, face half buried in his capture tape. He's not had the pleasure of teaching this year's graduating class seeing as he joined up in the last semester of term, but he's talked with the other staff. Uzumaki Dabi (a false name but the boy'd closed up like a clam when prodded for the truth so they'd left it alone for now) is riddled with scars and has more piercing than Shota'd know what to do with. But his quirk is strong (perhaps he's even got the strongest fire quirk in the world right now, Shota can't say for certain unless he went head to head with Endeavour).

"Mmm, Dabi-kun has certainly improved since his first year; that's 'round about the time he managed to get around the drawback of his quirk. I'm not quite sure what it is, he never told me how it affects him, but, well, it's not an issue now, I guess." Shota hums in agreement, watching the year's best student get lifted off his feet by a redhead woman. Clearly, it's a regular occurrence given the boy just goes limp and takes it like a champ. Poor kid.

"I was unaware that Uzumaki-san lived with Shimura-kun though."

There's a hacking cough and the scent of blood taints the air, Shota spinning around to find the source. It's the blond man Nezu had invited, half-hunched over with red dripping between his skeletal fingers. And he does mean skeletal; Shota's too many anorexic cases in his line of work, people who have fallen and not been able to find the energy to run from a major incident. But, it's not the typical case, not here. There's some muscle to this man, to Nezu's guest, who stares at the principal with brilliant blue eyes.

"Shimura?" Nezu hums, the noise animalistic compared to his usual range as he bobs his head.

"Shimura Tenko graduated at the top of his class last year. I had a feeling he knew Uzumaki-san given how similar they both move, but it appears they are closer than I first anticipated." The blond man glances back at the trio, the woman and the two teenagers, and there's a strange kind of desperation to his face. Shota's seen it before; it's the expression of a person that daren't allow a hope to catch, that's hesitant to even consider a thought because if it's wrong than it'll cut deeper than the sharpest knife. He doesn't get much more time to think on it, however, for Nezu commands Shota's attention once again as he addresses his mysterious guest. "Well, Toshinori. Have any of them caught your eye?" There's a pregnant pause, this 'Toshinori' struggling to remove his eyes from the trio in order to return his attention to the principal.

"I… no. None of the graduates have really…" he trails off, as if realising it'd be rude to claim none have stood out. Instead, another awkward silence stews and Shota decides he's had quite enough of it. He's got planning for the new year to focus on, after all.

.

* * *

 **I guess this is so I can work in my usual safe zone (female Naruto or female Harry) while getting to grips with writing BNHA, which I ma caught up with :)**

 **So, if you're into that, enjoy?**

 **Tsume**  
 **xxx**


	2. Chapter 2

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"So, this is the new lair, huh?" Naruto deposits the sofa she'd lugged through half of town down onto the office floor, inspecting the building. It's not the greatest, far from all the posh hero offices she'd been snooping around in back in her first few months in this world, back when she'd been trying to figure out how the hell this place worked. Back before she'd picked up her first brat.

Said brat is lounging by the western wall, though he does twist around to acknowledge her entrance.

"New lair? It's the first lair," Dabi corrects, spilling himself across the sofa as soon as it is placed upon the wooden floorboards, liquid in the way he seems to almost seep into the fabric and take up as much space as humanly possible. With his lanky form, that's not exactly difficult. By the window, Tenko watches them with his arms half folded, one hand scratching lazily at the side of his neck. Naruto bites back the instinctive snap for him to stop it (he's been doing it ever since she picked him up, only it was way worse back then) because he's a grown ass man who should take responsibility for his own bad habits. She'll still end up buying him some kind of moisturising cream the second she's got enough cash spare. Which should be soon now that both of her boys are getting full time hero jobs. She's so proud. Grinning and quite unable to contain herself, Naruto drops onto the small slice of couch Dabi isn't monopolising and ruffles his hair. If she digs her fingertips in enough to give him a half-noogie, then what's her firecracker gonna do about it?

"Naruto!" Whine apparently, that's what he's going to do. Whine about it. Dry hands swat half-heartedly at her own and Naruto gives the thick black hair one last ruffle before she retreats, relaxing back into the couch (and forcibly muscling in on Dabi's space) as she eyes Tenko.

"Are you sure you're gonna use Tomura for your hero name? I mean, it's a bit… you know." Naruto shrugs, not sure how to put it delicately so she pussyfoots around it instead. Her kid (and he is her kid, ten years difference or not, she'll fight anyone who tries to say otherwise) is bright enough to be able to understand what she doesn't say.

"I'm sure," Tenko snaps, scratching a little too hard at his neck before finally realising he's back into that old habit and hastily pulling his hand away. "Besides, I can't use Dust if I'm teaming up with metal face here. Dust and Dabi? Too much alliteration." He snorts, dropping into the only other chair in the room as his fingers rummage around for the phone that is no doubt in his pocket. It's strange, ten years ago, Naruto'd never have guessed she'd have given up trying to find a way back. That's what the responsibility of having kids does to you, she guesses, even if they're not your own. Genetically, that is. Dabi and Tenko are hers in every way that counts. Hell, Dabi even goes around wielding her last name like it's a sword. Not that it means anything to anyone here, but he'd taken to it like an octopus to water (man, she misses B). Given what personal history she'd managed to tease out of him, Naruto's not surprised by that. Not in the slightest.

"Just wanted to check. Once you've got a name and a big incident behind you, you're stuck with it. You know that, right?" After all, the only way she'd been able to shake the 'most unpredictable ninja' was to come to a world where she is literally the only ninja. Hell, even though she's trained them, Dabi and Tenko are no ninja. They're heroes with ninja-like moves. She's one brat short of a genin team. Maybe she should get out more, see if she can find another kid to take under her wing. Honestly, Naruto has no idea why Kakashi-sensei balked at the idea of teaching. She's loving it so far.

"You're gonna stalk us on our first job, aren't you?" Dabi drawls, his chest rumbling against her hip. Naruto jabs a finger into his ribs, smirking.

"Damn straight. Gotta make sure my cute little students," brothers, sons, "are okay."

.

She leaves them both there, in that new office (she's not at all touched that Tenko has called it 'Konoha'. Okay, she's totally touched and still a little teary, damn that brat) as she makes her way back to the apartment that is now solely her own. It's a strange thought, that Dabi and Tenko have now moved out. That they're living in the little room above their office space. Their hero office. Her brats are growing up. Naruto sniffs a little, wiping the wetness from the side of her cheek and determinedly pretending it was never there to begin with. Man, she's gonna be an utter wreck if she ever does have a baby. She's emotional enough with her teenaged-near-adult brats.

Scratching lazily at the back of her head, Naruto takes on quick look around before employing some good ol' ninja speed to zip to the top of the nearest building. She can sense Dabi and Tenko's approach so Naruto keeps her eyes on the situation. It's a good test for her kiddos, in a semi-controlled environment. Doesn't mean she won't step in if lives are put at risk. But Naruto's idea of 'at risk' is probably a little different to what people around here think. Then again, she can be down there, intercepting a killing blow in half a second. It's as good a test as she'll get to see where Tenko and Dabi are at. Lounging across the ledge, Naruto peers down at the villain, analysing their quirk. It seems to be some kind of rock creation technique, allowing the guy to create rock seemingly from thin air in any shape or form he wants. There has to be some kind of drawback, right? That's what the whole quirk problem is about, as far as Naruto can recall.

Blue flames roar through the street, liquifying the stone that'd been about to bring a building down. Naruto startles to attention at the flashy attack, an excited (near manic) grin overtaking her features. Her boys are here.

Dabi drops to the street from wherever he's been hiding, a long black trench coat covering most of his folded arms. There's an over-wash of relief among the civilians trapped within the rock, just their heads poking out from the improvised cage. Hostages for the villain. That limits Dabi's options, at least until Tenko shows his face. Her youngest doesn't let it deter him however. His face is set in a hard line, shoulders taunt and blue eyes burning. She'd caught the teen staring at her own eyes more than once, back before he realised she always felt eyes on her, no matter what. It was a trait they shared, bright blue eyes; the shape may be different, but the colour remained so achingly similar. Between that and his fascination with her red hair, Dabi seems to have taken to her, despite his dislike of crimson prior to the breaking of his emotional walls. The fallout from that had been epic, to say the least. Naruto's hardly a fan of recalling that day; she'd not gotten the full story out of him, but she'd gotten enough. Enough to know she'd never going to be letting Endeavor get anywhere close to her babies, either one of them, even if Tenko has nothing to do with him.

"Who the hell are you supposed to be?!" Dabi cocks his head to a side, his lips pressed into a shallow, thin line as he considers the villain. She can sense Tenko somewhere down there, clearly employing that oldest and noblest of ninja arts; stealth. She's never been one for it in truth, but both her brats have taken to it. When they want to use it, that is.

"Name's Dabi. I'm with Konoha and I'm here to stop you."

"Not save them?"

"Nah, that's what I'm part of a team for." Before the villain can truly consider Dabi's words, the rock prison encasing the hostages is dusted, Tenko hastily hustling the four away, his body between them and the villain. He's in his hero costume too, a long-sleeve black shirt that's styling comes uncomfortably close to her father's jōnin wear, and typical shinobi pants. Minus the kunai pouch, she's irritated to note. Little bastard's good with knives but he doesn't like using them. Which she doesn't understand in the slightest, kunai are versatile as hell, 'ttebayo! Edging forwards, Naruto watches with proud eyes that're totally not getting teary, not in the slightest. Tenko's hand to hand is shown as he's closing in on the villain, Dabi covering mid-range with his flames and stopping any misplaced projectiles from escaping into the mounting crowd. That's something Naruto still doesn't get; why the hell people gather to watch a fight. Back home, no one had stuck around when ninja started an outright fight; it was a sure-fire way to lose your life if you were civilians. And these people are civilians, there's no doubting that.

Naruto whoops are Tenko lands the final blow, socking the villain hard in the face with a chakra enchanted blow to send him crashing unconscious to the pavement. He's pulling out a reel of capture tape next as Dabi checks over their surroundings, ensuring there's no hidden allies lurking in the vicinity to strike them during a 'victory'. But nobody appears, the civilians are safe and Naruto's wet cheeks are a telling display of how damn proud she is of her boys. They're heroes now, recognises by the act of saving four hostages and taking a villain down without any injury to themselves. Sniffling, the redhead wipes at her face, leaping to her feet. The news-crews are swarming in; that's her cue to disappear.

.

* * *

.

 _"Here!"_

 _The bowl is dropped onto the table before him, broth sloshing up along the sides but only just falling short of actually spilling out. The woman (her hair's red and he's trying so hard to pretend it doesn't bother him but it does, by gods does it bother him) stares with blue eyes (and there's a world of difference there, soft and calm and everything his were not). He stares right back, even as his hands reach for the bowl and chopsticks._

 _Light-haired asshole across the table hasn't stopped glaring at him, not since he woke up here. The fucker's scratching at the column of his neck, again, even though the woman's batted his hand away from it three times already. And that's just in the fifteen minutes that he's been awake._

 _"It's good, I promise!" the woman claims, a beamingly proud smile on her face to match her sunny behaviour, "cooking ramen is how I make money nowadays." Light-haired asshole scoffs again, snatching up his own bowl as he pushes up and away from the table. He's gone from the room a moment later, leaving a stilted silence and a frown on the woman's face. She's young, early twenties, mid-twenties at the latest. She's got one of those faces though, the kind that don't seem to age. A sharp jawline, thin nose and tanned skin. That last feature is nothing like before, so he clings to that. He eats the ramen and it is good. If it weren't for the fact he's gone a few weeks without consistent meals (even then he doubts what he's eaten could be classed as a 'good meal'), he'd probably be trying to pack another one away inside his stomach; it's already rebelling against this one bowl._

 _When he looks up again, he finds the woman is placing a fourth empty bowl atop a growing tower of them, the slightest splattering of broth around her lips._

 _"What's your name, kid?" His name? It's not Touya, not anymore. The eldest Todoroki is dead now, he's painstakingly made sure of that. Todoroki Touya is gone, there's no weak son for Endeavor to chase after now, to keep pushing until he breaks._

 _(But, but he hadn't been able to get a hold of his own power on his own, has come away twisted and broken by his own quirk. Endeavor couldn't manage it, why could he have ever thought he'd be able to make himself useful on his own?)_

 _"…Dabi. I go by Dabi now." Dabi; cremation. It's appropriate, it's his defining trait. He's a fault, a genetic glitch. A frighteningly powerful quirk but an inability to use it. The phantom burn races over his skin once again._

 _"Right. Nice'ta meet 'ya, Dabi. I'm Uzumaki Naruto and that little idiot was Shimura Tenko, my kid."_

 _"You're not my mother!" The shout echoes through closed door the light-haired asshole had disappeared behind, providing damning evidence that he's been eavesdropping on them._

 _"Doesn't change the fact you're my kid!" and the woman, Naruto, is up and out of her chair, right up on the other side of the door to bang on the thin wooden surface. It quivers beneath her tiny fist; a strength quirk?_

 _"I know! Just don't give the moocher the wrong impression!" It's ridiculous, but that retort sounds… fond. The first bit. Despite the other's stand-off behaviour, he eagerly, passively agrees that he's 'her child'._

 _"Until he's back on his feet, he's our too!"_

 _What._

.

"Hey, Staples, wake up." The voice he's used to, it's easy to ignore. The constant prodding in the side is not so easily dismissed.

Swatting at the offending fingers, Dabi lazily allows one eyelid to peel back, glaring at the hovering for of Tenko. It's not as if he'd been asleep, just laid out with his eyes closed and his breathing nice and steady and even and… okay, it might have looked like a midday nap to the other hero. But it wasn't. He'd been reminiscing. No point stating that to Tenko though; he won't believe him.

"Here." The solid thump of an item being forcibly deposited on the table has Dabi twisting his head, curious. A box of hair dye, his usual brand, resides upon the wooden surface. Suspicious eyes make there way back to Tenko. "Don't get any ideas, staple-face. Your roots are showing."

"…Thanks." Tenko nods, ruffling a hand through his hair as the other itches at the side of his neck. He wonders off, mumbling about moisturise that Naruto'd dropped off on her previous visit. It's still strange, waking up in a morning and knowing that the red-haired woman wouldn't be there to greet them with breakfast already waiting on the table. No, if they want that, they have to go swing around to her apartment in the morning now. It's been a month and he's still not used to it. The past three and a bit years have been… the best of his life, really. He might not have thought it at first, but now… now he can look back on those first few months, on that rough patch, and thank the gods that Naruto hadn't given up on him. He can't even begin to imagine where he'd be now without her.

Rolling off the sofa and surging to his feet, Dabi saunters over to the window; they've still not had the time to invest in a hallway mirror yet. The only one in the apartment is within the bathroom, which Tenko is currently hogging. The pipes hiss with the pressure of the shower; Dabi seriously debates turning on the hot tap. Just to hear the usual shriek of displeasure as the water turns cold; it was one of Naruto's favourite pranks when they lived together. Pushing aside the urge, he eyes the window, shuffling slightly to the left until his reflection is clear enough within the glass. Tenko's right; his roots are starting to come through. The vivid red brackets his skull, turning black near instantly. But the traces of that bastard need to be pushed away, shoved down.

He won't have Endeavor finding him, not until he's strong enough, not until he's powerful enough to push him away. He knows now, knows he wasn't the one in the wrong, knows it was nothing he did that was wrong. But the scars are deep, they linger and no matter what he tells himself, they'll never disappear.

He's found new comforts; when he sees red hair now his first thought is Naruto, not that bastard. Blue eyes are his own, blue is his quirk. His quirk. He's made it his own, he's worked around the weak constitution and turned it into a strength under Naruto's careful guidance and Tenko's curious, distrustful eyes. He's Uzumaki Dabi now, one of the two heroes of Konoha. He's going to show the world exactly what a hero is, he's going to strip back the layers that cover the pretenders, until they're laid bare to the people in all their brutal truths. A hero is there to save people, to help them with no ulterior motive other than the urge to do what is right.

Tenko, Tenko's on board with that. But he's also striving further, aiming to expose the rotten core of society and how it has come to lay it's hopes and beliefs upon the broad shoulders of one man. Should anything happen to him, then civilization as they know it could very well collapse. Tenko wasn't to pre-empt that; given who the current Number Two is, Dabi's all for it. Grasping a handful of hair, Dabi considers himself in the mirror once again and hums.

Yeah, definitely time to dye his hair.

.

"Dabi! Sofa, now!"

Fluffing his hair up with the dye-stained towel, Dabi obeys and strides across the floor. He drops onto the sofa besides Tenko just in time to catch the blinding flash from the TV. It's Naruto, Naruto in her maelstrom get up, bright and bold against the night's backdrop. There's some kind of villain wielding a transformative or mutant quirk, it's not possibly to tell from a quick glance. But he's up against Naruto, so whatever he was planning is going to fall through without question.

"What's going on?"

"Some jackass causing mayhem down-town; thing is, he's taken out Best Jeanist." Oh.

"Well shit," Dabi hisses, towel dropping to rest across his shoulders as they both stare at the screen. This villain has taken out the number 3 hero and when Naruto wins… It'll bring an uncomfortable amount of attention down in the vigilante Dabi considers his elder sister. It's one thing to ignore a vigilante; it's well known that the police turn the other way given that most vigilantes are small-timers who're going out of their way to not make a mess or ruckus. Naruto… Maelstrom, neither of them are particularly well-known for being tidy or quiet. Which had been fine, when she was dealing with small-fries. This… This is a giant beast of a villain that Dabi wouldn't be surprised to see All Might called in for (speaking of which, where is he? The Number One has been unusually quiet for the past few months). Instead… instead the rest of the world is about to get a front row seat to what Dabi already knows; that Maelstrom is unbelievably, uncomfortably strong.

Dabi and Tenko watch the program in silence, watch as Naruto's golden glow intensifies, burning bright and brighter as she pulls out the big guns. Big Ball Rasengan, while not the fear-inflicting Rasenshuriken, is still not an attack that could be dubbed gentle. The villain goes down unconscious but that's no surprise. Tenko scratches at the side of his neck, dry skin flaking away and nails leaving red trails as they work furiously back and forth.

"Naruto's going to be pissed." When she realises how much attention she's drawn to herself. Their guardian/big sister would make a fantastic hero, there's no doubt of that. But they're the only two people in the world that know Naruto's power is not actually quirk based, that it's something anybody could learn with enough training. That she's not a legal citizen and technically, does not have any rights that could protect her. Not that Naruto needs protecting. But she's too trusting, Dabi knows this, has experienced this. He hadn't been in a position to take advantage at the time, but there are others. Others who would do so. Others that will now be looking into Naruto's position as a vigilante and wondering just why, with power like that, she's never become a hero. And, with further digging, why she's not showing up on any records. Especially quirk-based records.

"Shit, this is gonna be a clusterfuck."

"Understatement," Tenko gripes, pulling away from his neck with a hiss. It's serious enough that Dabi doesn't point out the beads of blood, doesn't point out how Naruto'll have his head for the self-harm. They've got enough on their plate now without that shit.


End file.
